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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

As the year comes to a close I can only be grateful for the good and the bad. From the new beginnings that taught me universal life lessons to the weird endings to situations that no longer served their purpose.

It's strange to think back to things that happened in February as it feels like an entirely different year altogether. Maybe it's being in college and everything being separated by semesters or maybe it's just my memory but everything feels like it happened so long ago.

Every year I think I've learned all there is to learn and every year I learn a little bit more than the last.

One thing that I've learned this year is that writing really helps. It helps especially when I skim back through my Moleskine's and see how many goals have actually come to fruition. I think that's something to be proud of and something to continue doing in 2015.

When I was looking for a title for this post I opened up the dictionary app on my computer and searched words that mean 'goodbye' or 'farewell'. I came upon the beautiful phrase of 'bon voyage'. The french phrase originated in the late 17th century and literally means "good journey". What a beautiful way to end 2014. Not with feelings of regret but with sincere hope for the future. I wish you all a good journey on your way into the new year.

Here are some actions that I want to bring into the new year. Be sure to tell me some of your own in the comments!

1. Patience
I hope to be more patient in the new year, with myself and with others.

2. Persistence
I hope to be persistent with my goals, my dreams, my morals and values.

3. Practice
I hope to practice my craft more often. I haven't practiced as much as I wanted to with my art recently but I am grateful for the times that I did practice and got to feel the wonderful elation of creating art.

4. Peace
I hope to bring peace into the new year. I hope all of you find peace in the new year as well.

Friday, December 5, 2014

BATMAN: YEAR ONE - a graphic novel by Frank Miller & David Mazzuccheli with Richmond Lewis (1986)

Batman: Year One follows the stories of Lieutenant Gordon and Bruce Wayne as they face intertwining struggles within Gotham City.

I think this was a great book for my first foray into the Batman comics. I enjoyed the backstory behind Bruce Wayne as a supplement to the general knowledge of the story I had from pop culture.

What I found truly interesting was the back story of Lieutenant Gordon. How coming to Gotham City affected his marriage, his wife Barbara, the early progression of his career, (and because he is human) his mistakes. He's flawed but still tries to do the right thing. He fights for himself, fights for Gotham, he's a lot like Batman in that respect. In a way, I feel like I connected more with Gordon this time around than I did with Batman.

That being said, there were some great action scenes with Batman which had me shouting at the pages at times. This is the cover page to one of my favorite chapters in the book, CHAPTER THREE: BLACK DAWN. (I've reread this quote so many times, so awesome.)

And for everyone who likes to see the workflow or creative process of other artists and writers the behind-the-scenes sketches, sample layouts and script pages in the back of the book are a joy to read. I particularly enjoyed Frank Miller's afterword at the end of the book, describing his first glimpse of the Batman comics as a young boy.

Overall, Miller offers vivid imagery of the ever mysterious Batman and takes the reader on a journey into the perpetually gritty, concrete hole of Gotham City. Well done, Mr. Miller. Well done.